So one who is engaged in this pious activity, hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi . . . that one who hears that . . . Kṛṣṇa, understanding that this person is hearing, He cleanses. The chanting process, we have many times discussed, it is the cleansing process. And as soon as the heart is cleansed, one can understand Kṛṣṇa immediately. It is a cleansing process, this hearing process.
Hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi suhṛt satām. He is friend . . . Kṛṣṇa is friend of everyone, but He is a special friend of the devotees. Suhṛt satām. Satām means devotee, and suhṛt means friend. Kṛṣṇa is friend. Just like the same example. Government is taking care of all citizens, but he is taking more care of the civil citizens than the criminal.
The criminal citizens, they are also under the care of the government, but they are not taken so much care as the civil citizens. Similarly, God is taking care of everyone—that's a fact—maybe he is sinful or not sinful. But He takes special care of the devotee. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.
Yes?
Devotee: "In this way, a devotee naturally develops his dormant transcendental knowledge. As he hears more about Kṛṣṇa from the Bhāgavatam and from the devotees, he becomes fixed in the devotional service of the Lord. By development of devotional service, one becomes freed from the modes of ignorance and passion, and thus material lusts and avarice are diminished."
Prabhupāda: Yes. This will be the result. Tato rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye (SB 1.2.19).
They become diminished. The whole entanglement of our material life is due to our embarrassed by the qualities of ignorance and passion. So by hearing, these modes of ignorance and passion will be diminished. Then we come to the platform of goodness, and then we come to the platform of transcendental understanding.